Major Initiatives Programme Lead, Infectious Disease (Health Systems & Environment)

Job Description

Salary: £78,413

Closing date: Thursday 20 February

Contract type: Permanent

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy, and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships. 

We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. 

This is an exciting time to join Wellcome under the direction of our new CEO John-Arne Rottingen, who joined in 2024. The Infectious Disease Strategic Programme (IDSP) is a relatively new team and as such this is an opportune time to join. IDSP focusses on two key drivers of infectious disease – environmental change and antimicrobial resistance. We take a preventative approach and combine an interest in gaining a better understanding of these drivers with development and use of interventions. We currently have a number of key major initiatives that play a key role in delivering this approach.

The Major Initiatives Programme Lead will work closely with teams across IDSP, to strengthen and manage the partnerships of Wellcome’s portfolio of IDSP-led Major Initiatives. This includes partners such as CARB-X, GHIT and the AMR Action Fund. The post holder will work to ensure robust processes and governance frameworks are in place that enable timely reporting and assessment of delivery goals, identification of emerging risks and challenges, and ensuring partners operate to expected standards.

We are looking for an individual with a passion for global health, to work collaboratively across the IDSP team and Wellcome. You will be joining a multidisciplinary, collaborative and enthusiastic team focused on supporting science to bring innovative solutions to combat infectious disease in the most affected communities.

In this role you will:

• Provide lead support to the Major Initiatives for Infectious Disease and, where relevant, across Infectious Disease Portfolio, to ensure robust processes and governance frameworks are in place that enable timely reporting and assessment of delivery goals, identification of emerging risks and challenges, and holding partners to expected standards.
• Work with the Infectious Disease team to ensure appropriate internal stakeholder engagement and establish mechanisms for effective matrix working and collaboration across the organisation.
• Develop and advance the Major Initiatives approach to engaged partnerships, supporting portfolio oversight and outcomes monitoring, gaining guidance from specialist advisers and relevant teams, and feeding in knowledge of wider policy issues.
• Contribute to a diverse and inclusive culture across the organisation, collaborating across departments. 

To be successful in this role you will have:

• Experience of managing product development partnerships
• Experience of productive development portfolio management
• Proven significant experience and knowledge of the delivery of impact through a complex research portfolio internationally, particularly in relation to product development
• Experience of setting up and managing high profile and high-risk research initiatives in international settings, working with a wide range of stakeholders, including cross culturally
• Demonstrated ability to develop and negotiate partnerships with key stakeholders and organisations internationally in public or private sectors.

To apply please upload your current CV and complete our short application. 

Interview dates: w/c 17 March

You can view the full job description on our website 

You can read more about the benefits we offer our employees on our website  

Our Hybrid Way of Working 

We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best.

At Wellcome we have a hybrid way of working which is 3 days in our Euston Road offices (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) with the remaining 2 days working either remotely or in the office.